Doctor’s wife hopes to overturn convictions

(AP) — A doctor’s wife is asking a federal appeals court to throw out her convictions for obstructing an investigation into health care fraud by her husband.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Josephine Adams’ case Thursday in Richmond.

Adams, of West Virginia, was convicted in 2011 on 16 felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction and was given three years of probation. Her husband, osteopath Barton Adams, was convicted of health care fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to 50 months in prison. The appeals court rejected his appeal last week.

In her appeal, Josephine Adams claims a district court judge improperly barred her husband from testifying on her behalf. At the time, Barton Adams had been declared incompetent for trial.